1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for supporting floor panels in which a supporting post is raised on a pedestal base plate provided on a reference floor surface, the panels being placed on a panel pedestal at the upper portion of the supporting post and a single-operation type panel retainer and a panel retainer support being engaged with each other, and also to a structure for supporting the panels forming a Rahmen structure.
2. Prior Art
In a conventional device for supporting the floor panels, the supporting post is engaged with and raised on a mating portion of the pedestal base plate fixed to the reference floor surface. The floor panels are placed on a panel pedestal integrally formed on the upper portion of the supporting post and the panels are held between the panel pedestal and the panel pedestal support with the projections formed on the lower end of the panel retainer being engaged with the mating holes formed in the panel pedestal.
Such a conventional device has drawbacks in that the portion of the pedestal base plate requires to have a height for supporting the supporting post and this results in the fact that a relatively large bending moment tends to act on the pedestal base plate to bring down the pedestal base plate. Moreover, in order to permit the clamping operation of the panel retainer, the projections of the panel retainer and the mating holes of the panel retainer support are loosely fitted to each other and this makes it impossible to establish a tight fixing between the panel retainer and the panel retainer support. This will cause further problems in that loosening and rattling may be caused when a person is walking on the panels, and the panel retainer may be loosened or removed by vibration or the like.